Fairfax, Va. -- The George Mason wrestling team split two matches today, defeating Morgan State, and falling to #14 Minnesota.
 
The Patriots defeated Morgan State, 36-6 and fell to the Big Ten's Minnesota Gophers, 37-6.

Morgan State Match: Morgan State is in its first year of competition since the program was dropped nearly 30 ago. Mason and Morgan State met eight times (3-3-1), dating back to the first match in January 1978. To date, Morgan remains the only HBCU to offer NCAA Division I Varsity-level wrestling. 

Mason earned bonus points from Ben Monn (125), Nathan Higley (141), Kaden Cassidy (149), DJ McGee (157), and Paul Pierce (174) to defeat the Bears, 36-6.

Ben Monn got the Patriots on the board with a major decision, 8-0, at 125 pounds. 

In Higley's first match of the season, the redshirt sophomore dominated the match at 141 pounds with a fall (2:52) against the Bears Blake Bryant. He earned a takedown and three near falls in the first period.

DJ McGee remained unbeaten (7-0) to start the season with a major decision against Shaymus MacIntosh, 14-5.

In one of the more competitive matches, Evan Maag defeated Jake Marsh 10-5, at 165 pounds.  The redshirt freshman was down 3-2 to start the final period and down 5-3 with :30 left before a takedown and and a near fall in the final :30 seconds of the match.

Minnesota Match: In its first-ever match in program history with the national powerhouse, the Patriots dropped the match, 37-6 to the #14 Minnesota Gophers. Minnesota wrestled six ranked players in the match, including three top 10 wrestlers. The Gophers won five of those matches.

The Patriots DJ McGee earned the biggest win of his collegiate career with a 4-2 decision over #8 Michael Blockhus. The redshirt freshman earned all his points in the second period with an escape and a takedown.  The Gophers Blockhus earned an escape in the second and the third periods. The Stafford, Va. native is off to an 8-0 start to the season.

Chad Nix earned the only other points for the Patriots. Nix defeated Bennett Tabor, 2-1 at the heavyweight class. He earned the decision with riding time.


MORGAN STATE 6
MASON 36
125 - Ben Monn (Mason) over Kevin Lopez (MS), MD, 8-0
133 - Shawn Rynarz (MS) over Patrick Schellpfeffer (Mason), 9-6
141 - Nathan Higley (Mason) over Blake Bryant (MS), Fall (2:32)
149 - Kaden Cassidy (Mason) over Aaron Turner (MS), TF, 16-1 (4:38)
157 - DJ McGee (Mason) over Shaymus MacIntosh (MS), MD, 14-5
165 - Evan Maag (Mason) over Jake Marsh (MS), 10-5
174 - Paul Pierce (Mason) over Cort Vann (MS), TF, 15-0 (5:56)
184 - Kingsley Menifee (MS) over Malachi DuVall (Mason), 9-4
197 - Ruben Karapetyan (Mason) over Natanic Kendricks (MS), 5-4
285 - Chad Nix (Mason) over Unknown (For.)

#14 MINNESOTA
MASON
125 - #7 Patrick McKee (Minn) over Ben Monn (Mason), TF, 22-5 (5:00)
133 - Jager Eisch (Minn) over Patrick Schellpfeffer (Mason), TF, 18-2 (4:37)
141 - #31 Vance VomBaur (Minn) over Dom Hargrove (Mason), MD, 10-2
149 - #18 Drew Roberts (Minn) over Kaden Cassidy (Mason), MD, 20-8
157 - DJ McGee (Mason) over #8 Michael Blockhus (Minn), 4-2 
165 - Blaine Brenner (Minn) over Evan Maag (Mason), TF, 20-3
174 - Sam Skillings (Minn) over Sean Coughlin (Mason), 8-3
184 - #6 Isaiah Salazar (Minn) over Malachi DuVall (Mason), inj default
197 - #19 Garrett Joles (Minn) over Ruben Karapetyan (Mason), TF, 19-4 (4:47)
285 - Chad Nix (Mason) over Bennett Tabor (Minn), 2-1 
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots will travel across the Potomac River to take on American University on Tuesday, Nov. 21.